Tag Archive | "gary"

Anyone who has listened to me over the years at WNST knows my #1 sports axiom: “The toughest thing to do in sports…is to stop losing.”

When your car breaks down, you take it to a mechanic and he (or she) knows how to repair the problem. And, if for some reason they don’t know how to fix it, there’s a manual – or web-site these days – that will give them the steps to take to get the job done.

If your faucet starts leaking, you call a plumber and it gets fixed.

Where’s the coaching manual on how to fix a team that’s losing?

There isn’t one.

I might not know exactly how to fix the woes that are smothering the Maryland basketball program right now — but I definitely know what WON’T fix the problem(s).

Gary Williams fighting with the administration: Won’t fix it.

The administration fighting with Gary: Won’t fix it.

If you haven’t seen this article yet, you may want to check it out, as it’s the latest chapter in Gary-Gate. The whole thing has now blossomed into an ill-timed word-scuffle about how the Terps have stumbled so much over the last six games.

Gary is telling folks he had a couple of players who would have helped this year’s team, but both (Gilchrist and Evans) scampered off for varying reasons…and he’s hinted that the school’s administration didn’t exactly help keep them on campus at College Park.

The administration has relayed a different story, saying Williams knew what was going on the whole time, approved Gilchrist’s departure, and discovered some new information on Evans that he assumed wouldn’t have gone over well with Athletic Director Debbie Yow.

Unfortunately – for both parties – now is not the time to air dirty laundry.

You would think both of them would be smarter than this…but they’re evidently not…or they’re just looking for a fight.

Gary Williams is in a fight for career-continuation right now. His team is struggling, his program has taken a significant step backwards over the last five years, and, more importantly, it looks like it might not be getting better anytime soon.

Still, the administration and Kathleen Worthington should be trying to help Gary through this down-time.

I don’t consider a “he said/she said” newspaper article six games into the ACC campaign to be “trying to help”.

Sources say Worthington appeared in the post-game interview room after last night’s loss to Boston College at the Comcast Center. Two different people both labeled that appearance “rare”, although Debbie Yow is a regular at Ralph Friedgen’s post-game press conferences. So, while it’s not an eye-opener to see a member of the team’s athletic department or administration listen in to a coach discussing the game with the media, it’s probably not a coincidence that Worthington showed up out of nowhere last night and decided – on the same day she spoke with The Sun about Williams – to sit in and listen to what Gary had to say after that loss.

I’m no mind reader, but I’d say Worthington was in the room just to make sure Gary didn’t have free reign to hold court with the gathered press corps in the event more questions came up about the players he has and the players he doesn’t have. Clearly, Sun writer Jeff Barker contacted Worthington during the day Tuesday to get her quotes for the article I linked above – and she must have known that Gary offered a counter-point to what his perceptions were of the departures involving Gilchrist and Evans.

Why Gus Gilchrist and Tyree Evans aren’t in Maryland red is NOT important right now.

Beating Boston College last night was important.

Winning over Miami on Saturday is important.

Creating friction with the coach over players who can’t help him win on Saturday is bush-league. That said, Gary helped grease the skids for the back-and-forth serve and volley affair with Worthington by discussing the situation with The Sun. I’m surprised, frankly, that Gary fell for that trick. Gary Williams should have said: ”I have a basketball game to win tonight vs. Boston College. And, after that, I have a game to win against Miami. I see no reason right now to talk about Gus Gilchrist and Tyree Evans.”

That approach – taking the high road – would have been the best way to go for Williams. He could have, naturally, knocked on Worthington’s door yesterday afternoon and said to her privately – “Hey, I have games to win and you babbling to the newspaper about those two players and trying to pin it all on me just serves to aggravate me and get me thinking about stuff that takes away from preparing for Boston College.”

I seriously doubt that Gary Williams is pleased with The Sun’s story today. It paints the picture of a program fractured. It gives the impression that Gary’s trying to spin some of the blame in the direction of the suits – and they, in turn, have decided they won’t let Gary forget that it was he, not them, that “lost” those two players.

Gary might feel good about the way he defended himself. But, that article in The Sun is not good for the on-going account of “what’s gone wrong” with the Maryland basketball program. It’s also not good that Williams spiked the conversation with a snarky, “she’s never won a national championship…” comment when talking about Worthington’s role with the program. Of course she hasn’t won a national championship, Gary… – if one could give a coach a technical foul for saying something inappropriate, I’d “tee up” Williams for that one. It was a fan-flamer…and the hotter the fire, the tougher it is to put out.

What’s gone wrong at Maryland is simple: Gary hasn’t brought in enough good players to compete at the top of the ACC. Some will blame his coaching ability, some will blame the kids and their performance, and some will say “sports is cyclical and this is the way it goes…the other schools are trying too.”

All of those issues might have some validity. It’s usually not just one thing that leads to drop-off in winning.

But a coach battling the administration in the newspaper over anything – or the administration battling the coach, whichever way you see it – is just not productive for all who are associated with the program.

I haven’t seen “the manual” on how to fix losing — but I’m almost sure there’s not a chapter in there that reads: ”When all else fails and your program is going through a tough time, pick a public fight with the Athletic Director, Compliance Director, Coach, or other significant member of the school’s administration.

What’s the old saying? Loose lips sink ships…

I think I hear the captain now: ”Folks, we’ve encountered a problem and there appears to be a hole in our boat…”

If the Gary Williams era at Maryland could be juxtaposed with a game of “horse”, Gary would have H-O-R-S at this point.

Make no mistake about it, the panic button is blinking and fans of the Terps basketball program have their fist in place, ready to pound on it.

Gary has been maligned for several years now at College Park, as his program has retreated from one of the best in the ACC to one of the most inconsistent. Williams, naturally, doesn’t like to hear that kind of talk when folks around the Baltimore-DC corridor discuss his level of success and the condition of his program – but there’s no sense in running from the truth: Maryland basketball is hurting. Big time.

Unless something dramatic happens in the next six weeks or so, Gary’s team is going to need a blazing run through the ACC tournament to make into the NCAA’s 65-team field for March Madness. That’s not a pessimistic view – that’s the reality of a situation marked by three eye opening losses over the last four weeks. The Terps blew a 14-point lead at home while losing to Morgan State – they squandered a 17-point lead at Miami in the second half and lost there – and last Saturday at Duke, Gary’s boys were humiliated by 41 at Cameron. It’s ALMOST fair to wonder if the Lady Terps could have played and lost by less.

I’m not a “fire the coach” kind of guy. I never have been. Good coaches (some would say Gary is a great coach) are hard to find. And, overall, I’ve always preached patience when it comes to coaches because they tend to outlast the players, particuarly at the college level.

Now, though, on the verge of missing out on the big dance for the 4th time in 5 years, Gary Williams is under fire – again – and it might be time to bring out the hose and douse the Gary-flame.

Notice the word “might” in that sentence above. I’m not advocating that Gary be fired at Maryland. But, I do think it’s time to up the magnification level to 10x on the Williams-microscope and watch what happens between now and the end of March.

Anytime you talk about firing a coach, especially in college, funds and finances always come into play. It’s one thing for a football owner to fire his coach and be contractually bound to pay him $15 million over the next 3 years. It’s a totally different set of circumstances when you work for a state institution that is in the process of a hiring freeze, demanding non-paid furloughs to employees and reducing expenses in whatever manner necessary…and you decide to fire the coach despite the fact you still owe him roughly $6 million.

That’s the case at College Park. Gary’s contract is guaranteed through the ’11-12 season and 20-year employees don’t generally have “buyout” clauses in their deals. Gary’s gettin’ paid if Gary gets fired.

It’s easy for us to say, “Pay the man and get another coach in here and fix the program…” – But it’s not our $6 million. That said, at some point, the school and the Athletic Department have to put winning ahead of everything else – and that includes: fund raising, who gets their feelings hurt, marketing dollars and having to pay off the $6 million you owe the guy you’re firing.

At some point, winning has to be priority #1.

The uncomfortably-evident (frosty) relationship between Athletic Director Debbie Yow and Gary Williams surely can’t be good for either of them with this kind of results-oriented “issue” at hand. The fact that Debbie and Gary don’t get along isn’t a big deal because they don’t chat much – or often – even when the team wins. It’s hard, though, for the two of them to steer this sinking ship together when they’re – well…not together. If they had a productive relationship, they could bunker down together and figure out a way to make this work since they’re both responsible for the program’s drop-off. Gary is the coach of the team that is struggling. Debbie extended the contract of that coach. They’re linked in ways they don’t want to be, although Debbie ultimately won’t fire herself if the Terps can’t turn things around on the hardwood.

As I always say anytime someone calls or writes “fire the coach!”: “who are you going to hire?”

That’s probably not a subject that needs to be detailed right now, mainly because Gary is still the coach, with a contract, and the position isn’t open to be filled.

Make no mistake about it, though: If Gary Williams is relieved of his duties, there are some outstanding young, proven coaches in and around the mid-Atlantic who would be worthy of consideration, including Anthony Grant of VCU, Todd Bozeman at Morgan State and, perhaps, even ex-Terp assistant Mike Lonergan who has done such a good job reviving the University of Vermont program in a short period of time.

Finding a high-quality coach to come in and take on the challenge of returning Maryland basketball to its glory years wouldn’t be hard. Returning Maryland to its glory years might be, though.

Gary’s program has lost its energy. They’ve been on the wrong end of too many late game collapses in recent years and the “bad losses” have far outnumbered the “good ones”.

In this year, particularly, Gary doesn’t have many good players. It’s hard to win that way, at the level that is the ACC. And, since Gary recruited those players, he gets the brunt of the backlash.

Time might be running out on Gary at College Park. Wasn’t it just two weeks ago that I wrote this same thing? Well, four games later, it’s not any better…and a 41-point loss at Duke probably makes it worse.

Winning has to be the #1 priority at College Park.

If they can’t win, they have to make a change.

That’s a shame, but Gary Williams’ legacy at Maryland is stamped in concrete. He’ll always be the guy that returned Maryland to its glory years and took them on a trip virtually no one could have ever dreamed in 2002.

At some point, losses like the one suffered by the Terps last night have to stop.

Losing is one thing. It happens all the time.

Squandering a 17-point lead in the game’s final 12 minutes…now that’s another story.

It’s still far too early to panic if you’re a fan of Gary Williams and the Maryland basketball program.

Let’s be clear on one thing: I am NOT advocating that Maryland make a coaching change.

Not in the least.

But the ’08-09 campaign is an important one for Maryland and, particularly, for Gary, because the faithful are starting to get a tad restless. The “unfaithful” jumped ship a year ago, or maybe three years ago, when the Terps couldn’t win late season games against the likes of Virginia, Boston College, Clemson and Virginia Tech. In 3 of the last 4 years, the Terps have failed to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. In each of those three years, Maryland coughed up late leads and lost important games down the stretch in ACC play. Those defeats generated a mass exodus from the “unfaithful”.

Now, even the faithful are getting worried.

I’m one of them.

Gary’s locked in at Maryland, mainly because he’s been ultra-successful and has a fat, guaranteed contract to show for it. It would be extremely difficult for Athletic Director Debbie Yow to terminate Gary and pay him a ton of money for sitting around. Remember, when you fire a coach and have to pay him, you also have to hire a coach and pay him, as well. Firing the coach isn’t as easy as, well, firing the coach.

This is a Maryland team that will more than likely battle right down to the final game or two of conference play before either making it into the NCAA tournament – or not. At the start of the season, I thought Maryland had the goods to go 9-7 in the conference earn a spot in the big dance. I still feel that way now. After all, they’re only 1-1 in ACC play.

Losses like the one they suffered last night at Miami – and last week at home to Morgan State – are particularly unsettling because quality teams don’t gag away games with double digit second half leads.

It’s one thing if you go down to Miami and the Hurricanes shoot 47% from the field and win a nip and tuck affair, 62-60. Hey, both teams are trying, right?

But when you hold a 17-point lead on the road and you can’t put that game away, something’s wrong.

When you own a 14-point advantage at home and you’re playing a mid-major program from a conference that routinely features a single “one and done” entry in the NCAA tournament – and you lose the lead and the game…something’s wrong. With all due respect to the outstanding job Todd Bozeman has done at Morgan State, the Terps can’t lose that game to the Bears. They did, of course.

And that’s why it’s starting to be worry-time at College Park.

There’s no sense in breaking down what Maryland’s problems are on the court. They have plenty of them. But so do a lot of schools in the ACC, SEC, Big East, etc. Maryland doesn’t have a true big man. They haven’t had one for a while, in fact. Some call that a recruiting issue – and those that do point to Gary and say, “he’s not getting the right kids”. There’s truth in that.

Rather than break down Maryland’s issues, let’s just stick with the theme:

Maryland needs to turn it around.

And it’s Gary’s job to do it.

It’s his basketball program.

He’s the one that made it into something special – and he got the praise, the contract, the extension and the money for that hard work and success.

Now, with the team bobbing along trying to keep its head above water, Gary needs to fix the program.

I’m sure Gary is working as hard right now at trying to win games as he ever has…there’s no doubt in my mind losing games like the one he lost on Wednesday in Miami are tearing him up.

But those kind of losses can’t continue at Maryland.

In the ACC, you’re either flyin’ – or, dyin’.

Right now, Maryland’s not flyin’.

And, if they wind up missing out on this year’s NCAA tourney, I think it’s time to take a long look at where the program is headed under Gary Williams.

I ask myself this question all the time. If I was a HS basketball player being recruited by multiple top universities why would I want to play for Gary Williams and Maryland?

For starters, Gary tends to limit playing time of most freshmen which may have been a good idea at one time, but in today’s game I have to wonder if that deters top talent.

Then I look at Gary and his coach style/demeanor. Once again, his in your face style of coaching was something more suited for yesterday’s generation. I often feel his constant verbal tirades and sideline antics are more counterproductive than anything else. I would think that it may even make players play in a mode where they are scared to make a mistake which is never good.

I frequently make this comparison to Mike Krzyzewski. With the game on the line and down a point would you rather see coach K on the sideline remaining calm as if he knows you will pull out a win or would you rather see Gary sweating through his jacket and freaking out uncontrollably? It amazes me that a coach can sweat more than a person playing the game.

Maybe it’s just me but I am starting to think it’s time for Gary to move on and I am starting to understand why so many of the areas top recruits are going elsewhere. Sorry Gary, you did a lot for this UMD and brought it back from troubled times, but after failing to put a decent team on the floor for a number of years I think it may be time to move on.

Rick Gosselin is one of, if not, the best NFL writers in the country. Writing for the Dallas Morning News I thought Ravens fans would appreciate Rick’s comments about Matt Stover. Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis are the “icons” of this franchise but Matt is one who also needs to be constantly brought up in the discussion of who are the most important players in the Ravens’ short history.

“Matt Stover is an NFL conundrum. He has played in two NFL cities and worn two different uniforms — but has only played for one franchise in his 18-year career. Stover is the place-kicker for the Baltimore Ravens and the last holdover from the franchise’s stay in Cleveland as the Browns. Stover was five years and 480 points into his career when Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore in 1996 and renamed them the Ravens. A Lake Highlands product, Stover has spent the last 13 years of his life in Baltimore kicking his way into the NFL’s top five all-time scorers. Stover ranks fifth with 1,905 points. The top five are all place-kickers, and Stover is the only one who has done all of his scoring for one franchise. Here’s the list of the NFL’s all-time top scorers:

If this week’s running back rankings prove anything, it’s that everyone had pretty much an equal shot on draft day at putting together a winner. In fact, it’s probably those who drafted in the top 5 in most leagues who are the ones disappointed. Regardless, the running back rankings are littered with guys who would have been available in the 5th round and beyond, even in the deepest of leagues. Furthermore, the top 20 has been changing up dramatically from week to week, so every week is a chance to catch lightning in a bottle.

Keep in mind that the power rankings, listed here, are based on year to date performance and not a reflection of your best options for week 14. Just below the power rankings are match up previews advising who should be better or worse than usual this week, based on their opponents. At the bottom, are the week 14 start rankings, that’s where you should look for help with your week 14 lineup decisions.

And here are the week 14 Fantasy RB start rankings; it’s my top 50 RBs in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for Thursday’s game, so keep checking back for the rest.

29. Darren McFadden (76) *switch him with Fargas if he’s worse then probable

30. Derrick Ward (77)

31. Leon Washington (77)

32. Mewelde Moore (80) *bump him to Parker’s spot if Parker can’t go

33. Kevin Smith (81)

34. Jerome Harrison (82)

35. Warrick Dunn (83)

36. Pierre Thomas (83)

37. Dominic Rhodes (83)

38. Willis McGahee (86) *if he’s playing

39. Chester Taylor (86)

40. LeRon McClain (88) *bump him 5 spots if McGahee doesn’t go

41. Ricky Williams (98)

42. Jerious Norwood (102)

43. Mike Tolbert (102)

44. Deuce McAllister (103)

45. BenJarvis Green-Ellis (104)

46. Jonathan Stewart (108)

47. Justin Fargas (108)

48. Tatum Bell (109)

49. Mike Karney (111)

50. Julius Jones (113)

All of the rankings will be up in time for you to get your Thursday lineups in, so check back tomorrow for the rest. And use the links below to check all of the other positions; they’ll be activated as they become available.

The fantasy running back rankings only lost one player from the top 20 this week, and since it was Steven Jackson who has been teasing us with hopes that he’d play for the last several weeks, it was probably overdue. There was still a significant amount of movement within the top 20 though, as there seems to be every week with the RBs. We’ll try to do the best we can to keep you up to speed with who’s hot and who’s not as the season progresses.

Keep in mind that the power rankings, listed here, are based on year to date performance and not a reflection of your best options for week 13. Just below the power rankings are match up previews advising who should be better or worse than usual this week, based on their opponents. At the bottom, are the week 13 start rankings, that’s where you should look for help with your week 13 lineup decisions.

And here are the week 13 Fantasy RB start rankings; it’s the top 50 running backs in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for Thursday’s games, so keep checking back for the rest.

1. Thomas Jones (11)

2. Michael Turner (20)

3. Marion Barber (27)

4. Maurice Jones-Drew (30)

5. DeAngelo Williams (31)

6. Matt Forte (33)

7. Frank Gore (36)

8. Chris Johnson (36)

9. Ronnie Brown (36)

10. Clinton Portis (38) *keep an eye on his injury status

11. Brandon Jacobs (39) *keep an eye on his injury status

12. Marshawn Lynch (39)

13. Adrian Peterson (40)

14. LaDanian Tomlinson (40)

15. Larry Johnson (46)

16. LenDale White (48)

17. Brian Westbrook (49) *keep an eye on his injury status

18. Darren McFadden (49)

19. Steve Slaton (50)

20. Jamal Lewis (53)

21. Reggie Bush (55) *keep an eye on his injury status

22. Joseph Addai (55)

23. Steven Jackson (60) *keep an eye on his injury status

24. Willie Parker (60)

25. Kevin Smith (61)

26. Leon Washington (67)

27. Mewelde Moore (74)

28. Warrick Dunn (75)

29. Ryan Grant (76)

30. LeRon McClain (76) *drop 5 spots if McGahee starts

31. Ricky Williams (76)

32. Derrick Ward (78) *bump 5 spots if Jacobs doesn’t play

33. Willis McGahee (80) *keep an eye on his injury status

34. Tim Hightower (81)

35. Jonathan Stewart (83)

36. Dominic Rhodes (85)

37. Kevin Faulk (94)

38. Peyton Hillis (94)

39. Jerious Norwood (98)

40. Julius Jones (101)

41. Justin Fargas (101)

42. BenJarvis Green-Ellis (102)

43. Pierre Thomas (108) *bump 2 spots if Bush isn’t playing

44. Deuce McAllister *bump 5 to 7 spots if Bush isn’t playing

45. Chester Taylor (114)

46. Ahman Green (116)

47. Ray Rice (120) *bump 3 or 4 spots if McGahee is inactive

48. Michael Bush (121)

49. Fred Jackson (122)

50. Patrick Cobbs (124)

All of the rankings will be up in time for you to get your Thursday lineups in, so keep checking back. You can use the links below to check all of the other positions; they’ll be activated as they become available.

Just for the sake of making everything easier, I’ve decided to post the week 12 Fantasy Start Rankings for all 6 positions in one place. It’s the same start rankings that you can find on the bottoms of each of the Positional Power Rankings for week 12. You can locate those power rankings by using the links at the bottom of this page too.

Listed below are the formulary start rankings for each of the 6 positions, with their formulary number listed in parentheses next to them. The formulary rankings are gotten using the “secret fantasy flavor formula”, it’s basically 2 parts player performance, 1 part defensive expectations against them this week, with a few variables thrown in for injuries and anomalies.

As news becomes available over the course of the weekend, I’ll make notes here too, so keep checking back. And at the end of the day, trust your gut, and have fun. That’s why we play the games after all anyway. And good luck to you this week as the playoffs approach.

QUARTERBACKS

1. Peyton Manning (15) @SD

2. Aaron Rodgers (21) @ NO

3. Jay Cutler (22) vs. OAK

4. Tony Romo (22) vs. SF

5. Kurt Warner (29) vs. NYG

6. Shaun Hill (31) @ DAL

7. Brady Quinn (31) vs. HOU

8. Drew Brees (35) vs. GB

9. Eli Manning (36) @ AZ

10. Phillip Rivers (40) vs. IND

11. Matt Cassel (40) @ MIA

12. Kyle Orton (42) @ ST.L

13. Tyler Thigpen (43) vs. BUF

14. Gus Frerotte (43) @ JAX

15. Jeff Garcia (44) @ DET

16. Donavan McNabb (45) @ BAL

17. Jason Campbell (48) @ SEA

18. David Garrard (52) vs. MIN

19. Brett Favre (53) @ TEN

20. Chad Pennington (57) vs. NE

21. Sage Rosenfels (61) @ CLE

22. Kerry Collins (61) vs. NYJ

23. Matt Ryan (62) vs. CAR

24. Joe Flacco (64) vs. PHI

25. Jake Delhomme (68) @ ATL

26. Ben Roethlisberger (69) vs. CIN

27. JaMarcus Russell (70) @ DEN*about the same if it’s Walter or Tuisasopo

Here are the week 12 Fantasy Flavor Running Back Power Rankings. It’s getting tougher and tougher to find sleepers these days, and in this era of multi-dimensional backfields, it’s getting harder and harder to simply figure out who’ll get an adequate number of carries from week to week. There are more options to choose from based on more overall running backs getting touches, but finding good options isn’t always easy, we’ll do our best to help you sort it all out here.

Keep in mind that the power rankings, listed here, are based on year to date performance and not a reflection of your best options for week 12. Just below the power rankings are match up previews advising who should be better or worse than usual this week, based on their opponents. At the bottom, are the week 12 start rankings, that’s where you should look for help with your week 12 lineup decisions.

And here are the week 12 Fantasy RB start rankings; it’s the projected top 50 RBs in the order that you should consider them this week. They were gotten using the Fantasy Flavor secret formula, and have their formulary numbers in parentheses, the lower the better. We’ll get all of the positional rankings out to you in time for the Thursday night game, so keep checking back for the rest.

All of the rankings will be up in time for you to get your Thursday’s lineups in, so keep checking back. You can use the links below to check all of the other positions; they’ll be activated as they become available.

As I prepared for my game this week between the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs I had a chance to see first hand what the Chiefs are going through with their purging of their roster and building anew this franchise.Trading away their best defensive player (Jared Allen to the Minnesota Vikings) and loading up on draft choices this year you can clearly see the commitment the Chiefs have made to the future, and the growing pains they are experiencing at 1-8.

Seeing Herm Edwards and Carl Peterson put this plan in motion, I can’t help but think back to the 2002 season when Ozzie Newsome and I were faced with the same task.

As much as we as coaches would like to think otherwise, our jobs (particularly that of a head coach) are inexorably linked to the finances of any given situation.In 2000 the Baltimore Ravens reached the top of the professional football pyramid winning Super Bowl XXXV and then returning to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs in 2001.The price was unavoidable, however.

In 2002, the Ravens fielded the youngest team ever (19 rookies) in the history of the NFL.The decisions made in the preceding years to the “Cap Purge” of 02’ were all made with the consensus agreement that the team would have to be gutted after the 2001 season.With every signing leading up to the Super Bowl year General Manager Ozzie Newsome would make the obligatory observation, “Now we all know the piper has to be paid in 2002, right.”It was an acknowledgment by all involved that the expenditure “over the cap” had an unavoidable consequence in today’s NFL.That for every dollar “over the cap” you spend you will be devoid of those dollars in subsequent years.

At the heart of the Ravens’ Championship year were players like Shannon Sharpe, Priest Holmes, Rob Burnett, Duane Starks,Tony Siragusa, Qadry Ismail, Sam Adams. JeffMitchell, Jamie Sharper, Jermaine Lewis and even future Hall of Fame Rod Woodson would all be victims of the financial “balancing of the books” that every team must come to recon with.

It was only fitting that the cover of the 2002 Ravens’ Media Guide adorned the oil portraits of myself and Ozzie.Indeed, we where left with the task of rebuilding a championship team with our “financial” hands tied behind our backs.We did so in the only way left to a team in this situation and that is to draft and draft well.

Draftees like Jamal Lewis, Adalius Thomas, Todd Heap, Gary Baxter, Casey Rabach, Edgerton Hartwell, Ed Reed, Anthony Weaver, Dave Zastudil and Chester Taylor would team with holdovers Chris McAlister and future Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden to form an AFC North Division Championship team in 2003.They key was the franchise’s willingness to take the dramatic steps to “purge” their championship team of older and more expensive talent and replace it with younger more affordable players.

The problem lies in being a victim of your own success.When you draft well, even though the young player comes cheaper, they play themselves into the higher priced market that makes it increasingly tough to keep all of your good players.Ultimately, the successes of drafting Ed Reed, Todd Heap and Terrell Suggs then forced the Ravens to let go of Jamal Lewis, Adalius Thomas, Gary Baxter, Casey Rabach, Edgerton Hartwell, Anthony Weaver, Dave Zastudil and Chester Taylor.It has become a vicious cycle, in a reverse of nature, the “young eating their old.”

In training camp of the 2002 purge year Todd Heap had a humorous, but acute observation.We had long had a tradition on our team that the most veteran players got to sit in first class when we traveled.Typically that would be seven or eight players, usually with 10+ years in the league.Todd Heap, who was just entering his third year in the league, at our first OTA with this young group observed, “Coach, looks like I am going to be in first class this season.”

Having spent the day with Herm Edwards, it’s clear he is finding the same things I did in 2002.Though tough getting through the loses, it was one of the most enjoyable years I have had coaching.Working with and developing the young talent is what being a coach is all about.Herm will also find that by having to play so many young players you are going to learn a great deal more about them than you might otherwise have a chance to do.Next year when he looks at his roster and sees a bunch of 2nd and 3rd year players he will not have to worry about how they will play in their first starts.They will all have 10 to 16 games of playing experience.